Blackrabbit Road Crybaby Bridge

Type
Vehicle bridge over water

Legend
Two versions of the Crybaby Bridge legend are attached to this structure, neither one with any sort of back story. In one version, the mother throws her baby off of the bridge. In the other version, the mother fashions a noose out of a rope and hanged the baby from the side of the bridge. In both versions, visitors are supposed to “drive up onto the bridge at night and stop”, at which point you will hear a baby crying. In the version involving the mother hanging the baby, once you hear the baby cry, if you get out of your car and peer over the edge of the bridge, you will see a noose hanging off the side of the bridge.

And while this might not necessarily be part of the Crybaby Bridge legend, there are numerous reports, mostly online, of “strange animals” running out in front of your car as you drive towards the bridge at night.

Ritual
For the most part, you are just supposed to drive up onto the bridge at night and stop your car. In some instances, the person relating the tale will go out of their way to stress that you have to roll your windows down before you get on the bridge, but it’s unclear if that’s part of the ritual or just to make it easier to hear the baby crying.

Location
Most online directions say the bridge is “off 138, turn on Black Rabbit Road in Hillsboro”. But there’s a problem: There is no Black Rabbit Road in Hillsboro. There IS a Blackrabbit Road in Leesburg, Ohio, which is about 9 miles east/northeast of Hillsboro. And while you can take OH-138 to get to Blackrabbit Road, there is another road between the two—appropriately named Bridges Road. Confusing, huh?

I’ll make it easy for you: the bridge is located near the 9500 block of Blackrabbit Road in Leesburg, where the road crosses Hardin Creek. Blackrabbit Road is located between Grimsley Road (county highway 48) and Bridges Road (county highway 11).

Notes
Some online resources state the bridge is in “Samantha”. But since they also say the bridge is “on Jack Rabbit Road” in Highland county, I think it’s safe to assume they are talking about the same bridge.